Variable DCF security scores and data threat portfolio views

ABSTRACT

One example method includes detecting a threat in a data confidence fabric, assigning a data confidence score to data implicated by the threat, generating trust insertion metadata concerning the threat, creating a ledger entry based on the data confidence score and the trust insertion metadata, and using the ledger entry to determine an overall data confidence score for the data confidence fabric. A data threat portfolio view is generated based on the data confidence score and the trust insertion metadata, and the data threat portfolio view is presented to a user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data confidencefabrics (DCF) that may include Internet of Things (lot) devices. Moreparticularly, at least some embodiments of the invention relate tosystems, hardware, software, computer-readable media, and methods forthe definition and use of variable data confidence fabric securityscores, and associated data threat portfolio views.

BACKGROUND

Data confidence fabrics are a type of network that can be useful forevaluating data and assigning confidence scores to the data as it passesthrough the DCF. Like other networks, a DCF may be susceptible toattacks by malicious actors and code. However, it can be difficult, orimpossible, to usefully evaluate the threats and attacks, and assigndata confidence scores that accurately reflect the significance of suchthreats and attacks. As well, there is no adequate mechanism to presentan overview of the security state of a DCF.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which at least some of the advantagesand features of the invention may be obtained, a more particulardescription of embodiments of the invention will be rendered byreference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in theappended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typicalembodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered tobe limiting of its scope, embodiments of the invention will be describedand explained with additional specificity and detail through the use ofthe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 discloses aspects of example bitmaps for trust insertioninformation.

FIG. 2 discloses a portion of an example DCF and related trust insertioninformation.

FIG. 3 discloses a portion of an example DCF that incorporates securitytechnology at a gateway.

FIG. 4 discloses a portion of an example DCF with security technology,and related trust insertion information.

FIG. 5 discloses an example DCF.

FIG. 6 discloses an example scoring algorithm.

FIG. 7 discloses an example score generator.

FIG. 8 discloses example data threat portfolio views.

FIG. 9 discloses an example method.

FIG. 10 discloses aspects of an example computing entity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data confidencefabrics (DCF) that may include Internet of Things (lot) devices. Moreparticularly, at least some embodiments of the invention relate tosystems, hardware, software, computer-readable media, and methods forthe definition and use of variable data confidence fabric securityscores, and associated data threat portfolio views.

In general, example embodiments of the invention may implement any oneor more of a variety of functionalities. For example, embodiments of theinvention may include an algorithm that may be employed, such as by theRSA IoT Security Monitor (https://rism.rsalabs.com/) (which may bereferred to herein simply as “RISM”), that may create a variable, ordynamic, confidence score, rather than simply a binary ‘0’ or ‘1’confidence score. Thus, the variable, or analog, confidence score may beany number from 0 to 1, inclusive of both integers and non-integers.Further, the algorithm may take into account a variety of attackmetadata to create the variable confidence score.

The RISM technology is one example of a security technology, but thescope of the invention is not limited to, nor necessarily requires, theuse of RISM. The RISM technology/platform may function as a trustinsertion component insofar as it may be able to insert trustinformation concerning data based on monitoring and/or other processesit has performed. It will be appreciated from this disclosure that atleast some embodiments of the invention may provide for various featuresand functionalities that may supplement and improve upon the basic RISMfunctions.

Another functionality that may be implemented by one or more embodimentsconcerns the contribution of additional metadata, such as by RISM forexample, about a current attack profile. Such metadata may, for example,incorporate workflow analysis performed by an operator in a SOC.

Some embodiments may employ a high-level DCF scoring algorithm that maybe modified to pay particular attention to RISM metadata. Suchalgorithms may trigger various different confidence scores based on thatmetadata.

Finally, some embodiments may provide a portfolio viewing tool that maybe built on top of a DCF in order to create a risk or threat map for allDCF data. This map may be used for various purposes, such as toevaluate, and develop an action plan based upon, trust insertion ledgeentries and their respective scores.

Embodiments of the invention, such as the examples disclosed herein, maybe beneficial in a variety of respects. For example, and as will beapparent from the present disclosure, one or more embodiments of theinvention may provide one or more advantageous and unexpected effects,in any combination, some examples of which are set forth below. Itshould be noted that such effects are neither intended, nor should beconstrued, to limit the scope of the claimed invention in any way. Itshould further be noted that nothing herein should be construed asconstituting an essential or indispensable element of any invention orembodiment. Rather, various aspects of the disclosed embodiments may becombined in a variety of ways so as to define yet further embodiments.Such further embodiments are considered as being within the scope ofthis disclosure. As well, none of the embodiments embraced within thescope of this disclosure should be construed as resolving, or beinglimited to the resolution of, any particular problem(s). Nor should anysuch embodiments be construed to implement, or be limited toimplementation of, any particular technical effect(s) or solution(s).Finally, it is not required that any embodiment implement any of theadvantageous and unexpected effects disclosed herein.

In particular, one advantageous aspect of at least some embodiments ofthe invention is that an embodiment may provide for granularity in aconfidence score beyond simply a ‘1’ or ‘0’ score. An embodiment of theinvention may enable assigning and/or varying a confidence score basedupon a particular type of attack on a DCF. An embodiment may enableassociation of attack metadata with data passing through a DCF. Anembodiment may enable after-the-fact reconstruction of attacks that havetaken place on data that has passed through a DCF. An embodiment of theinvention may include a data risk portfolio that may creation of anoverall view of data risk in an environment such as a DCF.

A. Overview and Comparative Examples

The following overview and comparative examples are provided as contextfor better illustrating various aspects of some example embodiments, andare not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

With reference first to FIG. 1 , a configuration 100 is indicated thatincludes trust insertion configuration and a trust insertion resultsconfiguration, each of which may be expressed in the form of arespective bitmap 110 or 120. In general, the bitmaps 110 and 120 mayeach comprise one or more bits, each representing an event such as atrust insertion operation, or other data, and each having a binary valueof 0 or 1. The example bitmap 110 may comprise any number of bits, suchas the 16 different bits as shown in the bit table 130. In general, thebitmap 110 defines a trust insertion configuration that specifies whichtrust insertion technologies should be used during DCF operations. Thus,in the example of FIG. 1 , the following trust insertion operations areindicated as being implemented: Bit 1: software-assisted digitalsignature; Bit 2: use of HTTPS to transport data; Bit 4: verification ofsignature by the ingest platform; Bit 10: any client wishing to consumethe data must do so via HTTPS; and, Bit 12: the client must verify thesignature. FIG. 2 , discussed below, discloses a possible outcome of theapplication of the example trust insertion configuration represented bybitmap 110.

In FIG. 2 , a portion of a DCF 200 is disclosed that has a 3-layerIoT/Edge configuration in which an lot device 202 such as a sensor, forexample, generates data 204, such as a reading, and sends the data 204to a gateway 206, which in turn sends the readings to an applicationclient 208 that may process and/or use the data 204. In some exampleembodiments, the sensor may be a sensor configured to monitor and reporton a physical aspect of an operating environment, such as temperature,pressure, or humidity for example. In some embodiments, the sensor maymonitor and report on one or more aspects of a computing environmentsuch as bitrate or bandwidth for example. As these examples illustrate,the terms IoT device, and sensor, are intended to be broadly construedand are not limited to any particular device(s). In the illustratedconfiguration, when the three layers, that is, IoT device 202, gateway206, and application client 208, function as part of the DCF 200, eachlayer may attempt to insert respective trust metadata as specified inthe bitmap 210.

When the data 204 arrives at the application client 208, a separatebitmap 212, indicating trust insertion results, may be generated, and acorresponding confidence score 214 calculated. In the example of FIG. 2, the bitmap 212 highlights that one of the trust insertion methods,particularly, the signature verification of the application client (Bit4), has failed. That is, in the bitmap 210, Bit 4 is set to ‘1,’indicating that signature verification of the application client shouldbe performed. In bitmap 212 however, Bit 4 is set to ‘0,’ indicatingthat signature verification has failed for some reason. Thus, since only4 of the 5 trust insertion methods executed properly in this example, aconfidence score 214 of 80% is assigned to the data 204.

A concern with a configuration such as disclosed in the comparativeexample of FIG. 2 , is the potential for attacks on the DCF 200. Thus,some embodiments of the invention may comprise a trust insertiontechnology that may be operable to monitor for such threats, and thatmay implement preventive actions based on data gathered during amonitoring process. One non-limiting example of such a trust insertiontechnology is RISM, which may operate to observe network traffic forpotential security anomalies and to monitor devices, such as IoTdevices, and detect compromised devices based on anomalous behavior.FIG. 3 discloses one example of an embodiment in which RISM may beinstalled on a gateway as a strategy to repel malware attacks.

More specifically, FIG. 3 discloses a portion of a DCF 300 that has a3-layer IoT/Edge configuration in which an lot device 302 such as asensor, for example, generates data 304, such as a reading, and sendsthe data 304 to a gateway 306, which in turn sends the readings to anapplication client 308 that may process and/or use the data 304. Ingeneral, RISM 310, or other technology of comparable functionality, mayoperate to protect the data 304 flowing through the gateway 306 and/orother layers of the DCF 300. As shown, RISM 310 may reside at thegateway 306 but in other embodiments may additionally, or alternatively,reside at one or more other layers of a DCF.

While the use of security technology such as RISM in a DCF context mayprovide some useful functionality, some challenges may arise as well. Inthe example of FIG. 2 , the use of a “Trust Insertion Results” bitmap212 may be useful to indicate whether or not a trust insertiontechnology performed properly. For example, signature generation forsensor data may be expected to work most of the time, which results in abit value of “1” being generated. Similarly, signature validation may berelatively straightforward, that is, either the public key confirms thesignature or it does not. As noted in the discussion earlier herein,technologies such as RISM may report a value of “1” when they areproperly installed and running, and “0” when they experience a failure,such as an execution failure. In some cases however, a technology thatonly returns a value of “1” may not be conveying an adequate picture ofthe actual circumstances. This is explored further in the followingdiscussion of a comparative example disclosed in FIG. 4 which disclosesa security technology such as RISM operating in a DCF.

In particular, FIG. 4 discloses a portion of a DCF 400 that has a3-layer IoT/Edge configuration in which an lot device 402 such as asensor, for example, generates data 404, such as a reading, and sendsthe data 404 to a gateway 406, which in turn sends the readings to anapplication client 408 that may process and/or use the data 404. Ingeneral, RISM 410 may operate to protect the data 404 flowing throughthe gateway 406 and/or other layers of the DCF 400. As shown, RISM 410may reside at the gateway 406 but in other embodiments may additionally,or alternatively, reside at one or more other layers of a DCF. Ingeneral, RISM 410 may serve to detect attacks and inform the DCF 400that it is running successfully by returning a value of “1,” which, inturn, may increase the confidence score from 80% (as in the comparativeexample of FIG. 2 ) to 87%. However, this increase in confidence may notaccurately convey the actual circumstances. For example, if RISM 410 isdetecting an average of 10 high-risk attacks per hour, there may be aquestion as to whether any of those attacks stolen data, or attempted toalter data. If so, then a reduction, rather than an increase, in theconfidence score of the data may better reflect what is actuallyhappening in the DCF 400.

C. Aspects of Some Example Embodiments

The comparative example of FIG. 4 is thus illustrative of aconfiguration, and circumstances, where a technology such as RISM is notadequate to fully capture what is happening in an environment such as aDCF. Following are some examples of functionalities provided byembodiments of the invention, and how those may apply to, and resolve,particular scenarios that may be problematic. As such, thesefunctionalities constitute improvements to, among other things, the RISMtechnology.

One such scenario concerns the inability of technologies such as RISM tovary confidence scores based on particular types of attacks. Suchattacks or threats may include, for example, botnets, rootkits, trojans,ransomware, viruses, worms, adware, and spyware. Each one of thesetechnologies may represent a different kind of threat to the dataflowing through a DCF ecosystem. Moreover, each threat may have adifferent type of impact to the overall confidence in the data. Thus,embodiments of the invention may provide a mechanism that may beemployed to raise or lower the confidence level of particular data basedon the types of attacks detected.

As another example, monitoring functionality may detect threats, but maynot be adequate to trigger responsive actions. For example, embodimentsof the invention may enable implementation of a change to, such as alowering of, the confidence score of data passing through the gateway,so as to thereby indicate the danger to the DCF that includes thegateway. As well, embodiments of the invention may detect a specifictype of threat, such as spyware for example, and notice that the device,such as a gateway for example, on which the spyware is running may notbe sufficiently protected from the threat.

Embodiments of the invention may provide for the attachment of contextinformation, such as attack metadata for example, to data flowingthrough a DCF. In contrast, technologies such as RISM are unable toattach any context about the type of attacks that were being experiencedwhile that data was flowing through the DCF.

As another example, embodiments of the invention may enable or implementnew functionalities concerning historical data recorded in a DCF.Particularly, such embodiments may enable an engineer/analyst toforensically reconstruct what type of attacks on that data wereoccurring at the time the data was created, and during the subsequentjourney of that data through a DCF.

Further examples of new functionalities that may be implemented byembodiments of the invention concern a data risk portfolio that may becreated and employed in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a DCF maybe employed in association with a “data portfolio” viewing tool that maybe used to profile the confidence scores of a wide variety of dataassets being recorded in DCF ledgers world-wide. Such embodiments mayincorporate a basic monitoring technology such as RISM that is leveragedto create a world-wide view of data risk, for example, the types ofattacks are occurring, have occurred, and what specific data setsexperienced which types of attacks. According to some embodiments, thedata risk view may indicate, for example, which pockets or portions ofinfrastructure in the DCF may be unprotected from current and/orexpected attacks.

Finally, some embodiments of the invention may enable re-classificationof an alert issued by a security technology. For example, it may be thecase that an alert may be a false positive, that is, an alert indicatesa problem when, in fact, there is no problem. Such a false positive maybe identified, for example, when a Security Operations Center (SOC)performs forensic analysis of DCF data and/or events after the fact. Inthis case, a re-classification of the alert may result in a differentlevel of trust being assigned to the data, for example, a differentconfidence score.

With reference now to FIG. 5 , details are provided concerning aspectsof an embodiment of the invention. As noted herein, embodiments of theinvention may operate in connection with data generated and/or collectedby devices such as IoT devices, for example. For the purposes of thisdisclosure, the term ‘data’ is intended to be broad in scope. Thus, thatterm embraces, by way of example and not limitation, data segments suchas may be produced by data stream segmentation processes, data chunks,data blocks, atomic data, emails, objects of any type, files of any typeincluding media files, word processing files, spreadsheet files, anddatabase files, as well as contacts, directories, sub-directories,volumes, and any group of one or more of the foregoing.

Example embodiments of the invention are applicable to any systemcapable of storing and handling various types of objects, in analog,digital, or other form. Although terms such as document, file, segment,block, or object may be used by way of example, the principles of thedisclosure are not limited to any particular form of representing andstoring data or other information. Rather, such principles are equallyapplicable to any object capable of representing information.

With particular attention now to FIG. 5 , an example architecture 500 isdisclosed that may comprise one or more DCFs 502, and/or portionsthereof. The DCF 502 may have a 3-layer IoT/Edge configuration in whichan lot device 504 such as a sensor, for example, generates data 506,such as a reading, and sends the data 506 to a gateway 508, which inturn sends the readings to an application client 510 that may processand/or use the data 506. In general, a security technology 512, such asRISM for example, may operate to protect the data 506 flowing throughthe gateway 508 and/or other layers of the DCF 502. As shown, thesecurity technology 512 may reside at the gateway 406 but in otherembodiments may additionally, or alternatively, reside at one or moreother layers of a DCF. Various types of trust metadata 514 may beinserted by one or more components, at one or more layers of the DCF502.

With particular reference to the security technology 512, if it is notdetecting any malicious activity, the security technology 512 may returna trust score of “1,” essentially indicating an assessment by thesecurity technology 512 that it has 100% confidence that the data is notunder any sort of threat. In addition to generation of the trust score,the security technology 512 may also generate Trust Insertion Metadata(TIM) 516, examples of which may include: any relevant information aboutthreats that the security technology 512 has detected; the frequencywith which those threats were detected; an assessment of the relativedanger of those threats (e.g., High, Medium, Low priority); timeframeduring which the security technology 512 made those observations; and,the types of threats that were observed, their frequency, and possiblywhether or not the gateway 508, or other DCF element(s), is able torepel that kind of attack. Thus, if there are no threats detected, theseTIM 516 fields may be empty, with the possible exception of thetimeframe field. As further indicated in FIG. 5 , the fields andassociated data/metadata may be used to collectively define a TrustInsertion Metadata (TIM) vector 518 that may include any type and numberof fields. In some embodiments, one or more of the fields in the TIMvector 518 may be replaced with a respective pointer to the associatedmetadata.

It is noted that a TIM vector is not limited to including informationabout threats such as may be detected by a security technology. Moregenerally, a TIM vector may include any type of respective trustinsertion metadata inserted by one or more components of a DCF. Thus,threat-related metadata is but one example of trust insertion metadatathat may be included in a TIM vector, and is presented only by way ofexample and not limitation. Similarly a TIR vector is not limited toincluding confidence scores relating to threats such as may be detectedby a security technology. More generally, a TIR vector may includeconfidence scores generated on various bases by one or more componentsof a DCF. Thus, threat-related confidence scores are but one type ofconfidence score that may be included in a TIR vector, and are presentedonly byway of example and not limitation. As disclosed elsewhere herein,trust insertion metadata, and data confidence scores, concerningthreats, may be aggregated with other trust insertion metadata and otherdata confidence scores from other DCF components. This aggregatedinformation may be used as a basis for generating an overall DCFconfidence score, and/or DCF data threat portfolio views.

In general, and with reference now to FIG. 6 , when a threat is detectedby the security technology 512, an algorithm 600 according to one ormore embodiments of the invention may be run which may modify, such asby reducing, an initial confidence score generated by the securitytechnology 512. The algorithm 600 may also be referred to herein as a‘scoring algorithm’ and may, in some embodiments, be incorporate as anelement of a security technology such as the security technology 512,although that is not necessarily required and the algorithm 600 may beimplemented as a stand-alone entity in some embodiments. In someembodiments, the functionality of the algorithm 600 may be limited togeneration of confidence scores and/or trust insertion metadata based onreceipt of data/metadata received from a security technology concerningactual and/or potential threats detected by the security technology.

As shown in FIG. 6 , such an algorithm 600 may employ a variety ofinputs 602 that may be processed by the algorithm 600 to generatevarious outputs 604. In some embodiments, one, some, or all, of theinputs 602 may be provided by a security technology, although that isnot necessarily required and inputs may be additionally, oralternatively, received from other sources within or external to theDCF.

The algorithm 600 may also communicate with a historical threat database606. As shown in FIG. 6 , example inputs 602 to the algorithm 600 mayinclude, but are not limited to, one or more of ‘Threat Types Detected,’‘Frequency of Threat,’ ‘Ability to Handle Threat,’ that is, the abilityof an element such as a gateway for example to deal with a perceivedthreat, and ‘Timeframe Measured.’ Outputs 604 may include, but are notlimited to, any one or more of a ‘Confidence Score,’ and ‘TrustInsertion Metadata.’

With continued reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 , an algorithm, such as thealgorithm 600 for example, may be constructed to implement a variety ofdifferent functions, examples of which follow, and any one or more ofwhich may be employed in a particular embodiment. For example, analgorithm may treat all threats the same, and then deduct the samefractional confidence penalties for each, so as to reduce a confidencescore, based on how many threats overall have been experienced recently.To illustrate, if three threats are detected, the algorithm may deduct apenalty of 0.2 for each, to arrive at an overall confidence score of 0.4(1−(3)(0.2)). As another example, an algorithm may assign a confidencepenalty deduction based on the type of threat detected. For example, thealgorithm may assign a penalty of 0.5 to ransomware 520 (high prioritythreat) and 0.2 for a botnet 522 (low-to-medium threat). When both ofthese threats are detected by a security technology, the algorithm maysubtract a penalty of 0.7 (0.5+0.2) from an initial assumed confidencescore of 1.0 to arrive at a confidence score of 0.3 for any data passingthrough a gateway, or other DCF layer, where the threats were detected.In a further example, an algorithm may deduct penalties if the threatbeing detected cannot be adequately handled by the device, such as agateway for example, where the detection took place. As well, andparticularly indicated in FIG. 6 , an algorithm may query a historicaldatabase 606, which may be located on-site at a user premises, oroff-site, and deduct points from a confidence score based anomalousbehavior data identified in the query. Further, an embodiment of analgorithm may employ any one or more of the aforementionedfunctionalities, in any combination. In some instances, it may be thecase that the type and/or number of attacks on the DCF is/are of suchintensity that a confidence score of zero may be returned by thesecurity technology to the algorithm, indicating that the securitytechnology has no confidence that the data passing through the layerwhere the threat(s) was/were detected is secure. Finally, it may be thecase that a security technology is able to detect a breach, andassociated data exfiltration. In this example, a lower confidence scoremay not necessarily be assigned to the data by the algorithm, but suchdetection may at least alert the enterprise that an unauthorizedduplicate copy of the data may exist in a “black market” and hence couldimpact the value of the data to a party interested in acquiring the datafor a legitimate purpose, such as a potential data exchange client forexample.

With continued reference to the foregoing example functionalities of analgorithm, such as the algorithm 600, and reference as well to FIGS. 5and 6 , it is noted that the rationale, or algorithm for assigning aconfidence score, can be put into the trust insertion metadata as well.As shown in FIG. 5 in particular, one or more trust insertion scorevalues may be combined together to define a Trust Insertion Range (TIR)vector 524.

Thus, the example trust insertion score of 0.3, generated by thealgorithm 600 based on information, such as the inputs 602, about theattacks by the ransomware 520 and botnet 522, may be placed in the TIRvector 524, which is configured to operate with scores having dynamicranges, as opposed to simply operating with binary success/failurestatus scores expressed as either ‘1’ or ‘0.’ As well, and notedearlier, the trust insertion metadata 516 generated by the algorithm maybe recorded in the TIM vector 518. With continued reference to FIG. 5 ,other trust insertion processes, such as authentication, signaturevalidation, and others, may still choose to return a “0” or a “1”status, and such trust insertion processes may, or may not, generatetrust insertion metadata associated with their respective confidencescores or statuses.

More generally, and with further reference to the examples of FIGS. 5and 6 , inputs such as inputs 602, may be received by an algorithm 600,such as from a security technology. The algorithm 600 may then processthe inputs 602 to generate outputs 604, examples of which include theconfidence score 0.3 as shown in FIG. 5 , and trust insertion metadatasuch as the trust insertion metadata 516 shown in FIG. 5 . Theconfidence score output by the algorithm 600 may be inserted into a TIRvector such as the TIR vector 524, while the TIM output by the algorithm600 may be inserted into at TIM vector such as the TIM vector 518.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5 , and directing attention now toFIG. 7 as well, the variable scores from a TIR vector such as the TIRvector 524, and threat-specific metadata from a TIM vector such as theTIM vector 518, may be joined together with all of the other scores andmetadata from other trust insertion components within a DCF, such as theDCF 502 for example. As shown in FIG. 7 , information from a TIR vector702 and a TIM vector 704 may be used to generate an overall confidencescore 706 for the DCF. When the overall confidence score 706 isgenerated, it may be entered into a ledger as a ledger entry 708. Inaddition, the ledger entry 708 may contain a subset of the metadata,which may be some or all of the metadata. In the example of FIG. 7 ,trust insertion metadata related to threats is denoted at TIM1 710, andTIM1 710 may be included in the ledger entry 708. The ledger entry 708may also include data 712 to which the TIM1 710 is related.

In more detail, FIG. 7 discloses an embodiment of a “Metadata-aware DCFScore Generator” (or ‘score generator’) 714 (526 in FIG. 5 ) that isable to factor the TIM(X) of one, some, or all, components of a DCF, aswell as the confidence scores themselves. In the example of FIG. 7 , anoverall DCF confidence score 706 of 35% (out of 100%) is generated bythe score generator 714 for inclusion in the ledger entry 708. The scoregenerator 714 may also enter the threat metadata TIM1 710 as a way toexplain the low value of the score 706.

In addition to generating overall DCF scores, and ledger entries, thescore generator 714 may provide other functionalities as well. Forexample, the score generator 714 may examine trust insertion metadata onan individual TIM type basis. To illustrate, the score generator 714 mayexamine TIM1 710 to identify one or more specific types of threats,and/or may examine one or more of TIM2 . . . TIMn to identify otherparticular information provided by respective devices of the DCF. Aswell, and noted earlier, the score generator 714 may generate a dynamicoverall confidence score for a DCF based on an aggregation of all deviceTIM values and/or based on an aggregation of all device confidencescores. Further, the score generator 714 may insert threat metadata,such as TIM1 710 (FIG. 7 ) into a DCF ledger entry 708. This may enablea higher level DCF Data Threat Portfolio view tool, an example of whichis discussed below in connection with FIG. 8 , to create historical andcurrent overviews of the threats that have been, and/or are being,experienced across a DCF.

D. DCF Data Threat Portfolio

As discussed thus far, embodiments of the invention may provide for theimplementation of various useful functionalities. Data collected and/orprocessed in connection with such functionalities may, in turn, enablethe implementation of yet other useful functionalities, one example ofwhich is DCF data threat portfolio viewing, as disclosed in FIG. 8 anddiscussed below. That is, FIG. 8 discloses an example of a tool that maybe used to provide an overview of the threats, such as in the form of anoverall threat profile, to the data that a DCF is managing. The tool maybe a stand-alone entity (such as 528 in FIG. 5 ) or may be integratedinto another entity such as, for example, a score generator. In at leastsome embodiments, the tool may present one or more views in graphicalform.

In particular, FIG. 8 discloses an example DCF 800 ingesting andannotating sensor 802 data from across a broad geographical range. Inthe illustrative example, eleven different sensors 802 contributerespective different readings. In FIG. 8 , a ledger 804 of the DCF mayinclude one or more entries. The ledger 804 may, or may not, include oneor more entries including the same types of information as therespective example ledger entries disclose in FIGS. 5 and 7 . By way ofillustration, in the ledger entry 804(1), data(1) 806 generated and/orcollected by sensor 802(1) has been associated with a confidence score808 of 95% based on the TIM1 809. Thus, as the sensor 802 data 806 isbeing ingested into the DCF 800, the security technology may analyze andrecord a respective threat profile that includes a respective confidencescore and associated metadata for each piece of ingested data. The DCF800 may then store an entry for each data item in the DCF ledger 804.

The ledger 804 may be queried to create one or more threat views thatmay beneficial to an enterprise such as a business. FIG. 8 disclosesvarious possible views that may be defined using the information in theledger 804. In some embodiments, one or more particular views may begenerated in response to receipt of a query from a user that specifiesinformation of interest to the user. Such views may be presented to auser by way of a graphical user interface (GUI) or any other type of UI.For example, in some embodiments, any one or more of the views may bepresented to a user by an app on a smartphone or other mobile device.Additionally, or alternatively, one or more views may be presented at aterminal used by an administrator of an enterprise.

In one example, FIG. 8 discloses a heat map view 820. The heat map view820 may disclose, for example, that out of the last-known ledger entriesprocessed from all sensors 802(1) . . . 802(11), the respective datareceived from sensors 3 and 9 are associated with relatively lowconfidence scores, possibly due to a high degree of threat activityrelating to that data. The other sensors 802(n) are not experiencingsuch threats. While not specifically indicated in FIG. 8 , one or moresensors in a DCF may be color coded in the heat map view 820. Thus,sensors 3 and 9 may be colored red, and one or more of the remainingsensors colored green. Some sensors may be colored yellow, for example,to indicate a ‘medium’ threat severity level. In general, a heat mapcolor may correspond to a data confidence score of the associatedsensor, although no particular scheme is required for the informationdisclosed in a heat map.

With continued reference to FIG. 8 , another possible view that may begenerated by embodiments of the invention based on DCF ledger data is adata-specific threat view 830. A user may define a query that enablesthe user to drill down on any specific piece of data and explore thethreat environment that the sensor, which produced and/or collected thatdata, was experiencing at the time the data was being ingested.

Still another example view that may be generated by embodiments of theinvention based on DCF ledger data is a historical threat view 840. Theledger is a time-ordered view of threats to data. The confidence scoresand/or trust insertion metadata may be displayed over time to enable auser to see how the threats, severities, or confidence isrising/falling. In the illustrated example, it can be seen that thethreat level is declining with the passage of time. The historicalthreat view 840 may be filtered to focus on individual threats (e.g.,how much ransomware activity is occurring overtime), individual data(what is this sensor experiencing over time), or on any other basis.Note that over time, and possibly based on human insight, such as anoperator in an SOC, the original confidence score may be modified,either up or down. The historical threat view 840 may use human insightmodifiers, discussed below, to emphasize areas in which confidencescores have changed, and to reveal the values of the new confidencescores.

As a final example of views that may be generated by one or moreembodiments of the invention, FIG. 8 discloses a risk assessment view850. In this view, one or more entries in the ledger 804 may highlightareas of data ingest where threats are active but specific preventionfor that threat is not. In the example of FIG. 8 , sensor 3 may beidentified as a risk since it is not configured to repel a rootkitattack. A risk assessment view 850, like the other example viewsdisclosed herein, may be supplemented with, and/or informed by,additional information. For example, the risk assessment view 850 may beinformed with other trust insertion metadata present in the ledger 804such as, for example, provenance information that describes the ingestenvironment, including O/S versions, driver versions, and the presenceof hardware (HW) root of trust technology. As used herein, root of trustis a concept that starts a chain of trust needed to ensure a computerboots with legitimate code. Thus, for example, if the first piece ofcode executed has been verified as legitimate, those credentials aretrusted by the execution of each subsequent piece of code.

It was noted earlier that human insight modifiers may be employed inconnection with some embodiments of the invention, including embodimentsthat provide for various different threat portfolio views. Onecircumstance that may occur is that, at some point after a confidencescore is written to an immutable ledger, an SOC investigation or otherinquiry may conclude that the initial score calculation should berevisited. For example, what was initially characterized as ‘high’ riskwas actually a false positive and, thus, the confidence score should bemodified to reflect the actual state of affairs.

To enable this functionality, some embodiments of the invention mayprovide for an immutable ledger entry with a confidence score that mayinclude, or reference, a “bread crumb” that references any potential SOCworkflow(s). The bread crumb may be a unique ID that was generatedduring initial scoring and placed into the ledger entry. When ahistorical threat view is created, for example, the portfolio viewingtool may perform a query to see if any given ID has undergone humanworkflow analysis, as well as whether or not such analysis produced adifferent conclusion as to the confidence score, and/or otherparameters, associated with the data to which the initial confidencescore was assigned. In one alternative embodiment, a new ledger entrymay be created which modifies the confidence score included in theoriginal or preceding ledger entry, while also referencing the originalledger entry.

As exemplified by the disclosure herein, embodiments of the inventionmay, by allowing trust insertion components to contribute a score range,as opposed being limited to a binary success/failure evaluation, andmetadata to a DCF, a rich and useful picture of ecosystem-wideconfidence in the DCF data may be provided. Moreover, the ability of atrust insertion component, such as a security technology, to feedthreat-specific data and scores for specific time ranges may provide abroad reporting capability not presently employed or available in edgecomputing systems and environments. As well, the ability, provided inembodiments of the invention, to associate those threats with specificdata sources and data streams may also be valuable, as such ability mayallow an enterprise to understand more clearly which edge data assetsare being targeted by malicious entities. With this information, a planmay be generated and implemented to deal with the threats. Finally,embodiments of the invention may enable an enterprise to get a heads-upabout potential copycat versions of their data in the market via thedata exfiltration capabilities disclosed herein. In this way, forexample, investigators/monitors may be able look for that data, such asin a black market for example, and then eliminate the data.

E. Example Methods

Attention is directed now to FIG. 9 , where methods are disclosed forscoring of detected threats, and related processes, where one examplemethod is denoted generally at 900. It is noted with respect to theexample method of FIG. 9 , as well as to any of the other disclosedprocesses, operations, methods, and/or any portion of any of these, maybe performed in response to, as a result of, and/or, based upon, theperformance of any preceding process(es), methods, and/or, operations.Correspondingly, performance of one or more processes, for example, maybe a predicate or trigger to subsequent performance of one or moreadditional processes, operations, and/or methods. Thus, for example, thevarious processes that may make up a method may be linked together orotherwise associated with each other by way of relations such as theexamples just noted.

The example method 900 may be performed in its entirety, in a DCF,although that is not necessarily required. At least some of the method900 may be performed at a particular layer of a DCF, such as a gatewayfor example. More generally however, it is not required that the method900 be performed by any particular entity, or group of entities.

With particular attention now to FIG. 9 , the method 900 may begin whena threat is detected 902 at a layer, or layers, of a DCF. In someembodiments, the threat may be detected by a security technologyoperating at a gateway of the DCF. In some embodiments, the threat thatis detected 902 may be a threat to the security and/or integrity of datapassing through a layer of the DCF, such as a gateway, although othertypes of threats may be detected.

After the threat has been detected 902, a data confidence score, orsimply ‘confidence score’ or ‘score,’ may be calculated and returned 904concerning data implicated by the threat. The confidence score may, forexample, be any integer, or non-integer, from 0 to 1, inclusive. In someembodiments, the magnitude of the confidence score is based upon theseverity of the detected threat, and the possible, and/or actual,consequences of the threat with respect to the data passing through thelayer where the threat was detected. Thus, for example, a minimallyconsequential threat may result in a data confidence score of 0.8, whilea threat that corrupts the data may result in a data confidence score of0.2. The data confidence score may be adjusted up, or down, relative toits initial value, based on other input.

In addition to generation of the confidence score 904, trust insertionmetadata may also be generated 906. The trust insertion metadata may, insome embodiments at least, be generated by the same entity that detectedthe threat 902 and generated the confidence score 904, although that isnot necessarily required. The trust insertion metadata may relate to theparticular threat detected and may comprise, for example, the frequencywith which the threat occurred, when the threat occurred, and the threattype.

The trust insertion metadata and the confidence score that were returnedat 906 and 904 may be inserted into respective vectors 908.Particularly, the trust insertion metadata may be inserted in a trustinsertion metadata vector 908, and the confidence score inserted in attrust insertion range vector 908. The trust insertion metadata vectormay also comprise trust insertion metadata concerning respective trustinsertion processes performed by elements of the DCF other than asecurity technology/gateway, and that trust insertion metadata mayconcern aspects of the DCF other than threat detection. As well, thetrust insertion range vector, may comprise one or more non-integerand/or integer values that each respectively correspond to a trustinsertion process performed by a respective component of the DCF.

Next, information from the trust insertion metadata vector and trustinsertion range vector may be combined to create a ledger entry 910. Oneexample embodiment of a ledger entry may comprise trust insertionmetadata and a data confidence score concerning the data to which thetrust insertion metadata relates. In some embodiments, the ledger entrymay also comprise the data itself. One, some, or all, of the ledgerentries may then be used to create an overall data confidence score forthe DCF 912. In one relatively simple approach, the confidence scoresmay be averaged across all the ledger entries to create the overall DCFdata confidence score 912. In other embodiments, the confidence scoresmay be weighted, and the overall data confidence score for the DCF 912generated using the weighted confidence scores.

Finally, the ledger entries may be used to generate one or more threatportfolio views 914. The threat portfolio view may identify, forexample, sensors or other IoT devices with relatively low dataconfidence scores, data-specific threats, historical threat views,and/or risk assessment views, among others. These views may be presentedto a user in graphical form, for example, and may be presented on a userterminal, mobile communication device, and/or any other systems ordevices capable of graphically displaying and/or otherwise presentingthreat portfolio view information.

E. Further Example Embodiments

Following are some further example embodiments of the invention. Theseare presented only by way of example and are not intended to limit thescope of the invention in any way.

Embodiment 1. A method, comprising: detecting a threat in a data N Yconfidence fabric; assigning a data confidence score to data implicatedby the threat; generating trust insertion metadata concerning thethreat; creating a ledger entry based on the data confidence score andthe trust insertion metadata; and using the ledger entry to determine anoverall data confidence score for the data confidence fabric.

Embodiment 2. The method as recited in embodiment 1, wherein the threatis detected by a security technology running on a gateway of the dataconfidence fabric.

Embodiment 3. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-2, whereinthe overall data confidence score is also based on trust insertionmetadata generated by one or more devices in the data confidence fabricother than a device that detected the threat.

Embodiment 4. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-3, whereinthe entity that assigns the data confidence score is configured toassign both integer, and non-integer, data confidence scores.

Embodiment 5. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-4, furthercomprising adjusting the data confidence score.

Embodiment 6. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-5, whereinthe data is generated and/or collected by an IoT device.

Embodiment 7. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-6, whereinthe trust insertion metadata is added to a trust insertion metadatavector, and the data confidence score is added to a trust insertionrange vector, and the overall data confidence score of the dataconfidence fabric is based on the trust insertion range vector and thetrust insertion metadata vector.

Embodiment 8. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-7, furthercomprising generating a data threat portfolio view based on the dataconfidence score and the trust insertion metadata.

Embodiment 9. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-8, furthercomprising presenting a graphical display of a data threat portfolioview that was generated based on the data confidence score and the trustinsertion metadata.

Embodiment 10. The method as recited in any of embodiments 1-9, whereinthe data passes through an entity that detects the threat.

Embodiment 11. A method for performing any of the operations, methods,or processes, or any portion of any of these, disclosed herein.

Embodiment 12. A non-transitory storage medium having stored thereininstructions that are executable by one or more hardware processors toperform the operations of any one or more of embodiments 1 through 11.

F. Example Computing Devices and Associated Media

The embodiments disclosed herein may include the use of a specialpurpose or general-purpose computer including various computer hardwareor software modules, as discussed in greater detail below. A computermay include a processor and computer storage media carrying instructionsthat, when executed by the processor and/or caused to be executed by theprocessor, perform any one or more of the methods disclosed herein, orany part(s) of any method disclosed.

As indicated above, embodiments within the scope of the presentinvention also include computer storage media, which are physical mediafor carrying or having computer-executable instructions or datastructures stored thereon. Such computer storage media may be anyavailable physical media that may be accessed by a general purpose orspecial purpose computer.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer storage media maycomprise hardware storage such as solid state disk/device (SSD), RAM,ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, flash memory, phase-change memory (“PCM”), or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other hardware storage devices which may be used tostore program code in the form of computer-executable instructions ordata structures, which may be accessed and executed by a general-purposeor special-purpose computer system to implement the disclosedfunctionality of the invention. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer storage media. Such media are alsoexamples of non-transitory storage media, and non-transitory storagemedia also embraces cloud-based storage systems and structures, althoughthe scope of the invention is not limited to these examples ofnon-transitory storage media.

Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions anddata which, when executed, cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing device to perform acertain function or group of functions. As such, some embodiments of theinvention may be downloadable to one or more systems or devices, forexample, from a website, mesh topology, or other source. As well, thescope of the invention embraces any hardware system or device thatcomprises an instance of an application that comprises the disclosedexecutable instructions.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts disclosed herein are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

As used herein, the term ‘module’ or ‘component’ may refer to softwareobjects or routines that execute on the computing system. The differentcomponents, modules, engines, and services described herein may beimplemented as objects or processes that execute on the computingsystem, for example, as separate threads. While the system and methodsdescribed herein may be implemented in software, implementations inhardware or a combination of software and hardware are also possible andcontemplated. In the present disclosure, a ‘computing entity’ may be anycomputing system as previously defined herein, or any module orcombination of modules running on a computing system.

In at least some instances, a hardware processor is provided that isoperable to carry out executable instructions for performing a method orprocess, such as the methods and processes disclosed herein. Thehardware processor may or may not comprise an element of other hardware,such as the computing devices and systems disclosed herein.

In terms of computing environments, embodiments of the invention may beperformed in client-server environments, whether network or localenvironments, or in any other suitable environment. Suitable operatingenvironments for at least some embodiments of the invention includecloud computing environments where one or more of a client, server, orother machine may reside and operate in a cloud environment.

With reference briefly now to FIG. 10 , any one or more of the entitiesdisclosed, or implied, by FIGS. 1-9 and/or elsewhere herein, may takethe form of, or include, or be implemented on, or hosted by, a physicalcomputing device, one example of which is denoted at 1000. As well,where any of the aforementioned elements comprise or consist of avirtual machine (VM), that VM may constitute a virtualization of anycombination of the physical components disclosed in FIG. 10 .

In the example of FIG. 10 , the physical computing device 1000 includesa memory 1002 which may include one, some, or all, of random accessmemory (RAM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) 1004, read-onlymemory (ROM), and persistent memory, one or more hardware processors1006, non-transitory storage media 1008, UI device 1010, and datastorage 1012. One or more of the memory components 1002 of the physicalcomputing device 1000 may take the form of solid state device (SSD)storage. As well, one or more applications 1014 may be provided thatcomprise instructions executable by one or more hardware processors 1006to perform any of the operations, or portions thereof, disclosed herein.

Such executable instructions may take various forms including, forexample, instructions executable to perform any method or portionthereof disclosed herein, and/or executable by/at any of a storage site,whether on-premises at an enterprise, or a cloud storage site, client,datacenter, or backup server, to perform any of the functions disclosedherein. As well, such instructions may be executable to perform any ofthe other operations and methods, and any portions thereof, disclosedherein.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for scoring a confidence score of a dataconfidence fabric (DCF) including a plurality of layers, comprising:monitoring and detecting a plurality of threats to data flowing throughthe DCF for a monitoring period; assigning a data confidence score todata implicated by the threat by comparing a bitmap result with a bitmapconfiguration; generating a trust insertion metadata (TIM) vectorconcerning types of the plurality of threats to the data and a trustinsertion range (TIR) vector including a dynamic range of confidencescores related to the plurality of threats; receiving data generated byone device in one layer of the plurality of layers; assigning a dataconfidence score to the data based on the TIM vector, the TIR vector,and a trust inspection configuration; creating a ledger entry based onthe data, the data confidence score, and the TIM vector in adecentralized DCF framework; determining an overall data confidencescore for the data confidence fabric based on ledger entries; repellingthe plurality of threats to the DCF, by a security technology, based onthe data confidence score; and displaying a data threat portfolio viewbased on the overall data confidence score and the ledger entries topresent identification of the plurality of threats to the DCF on auser's terminal, wherein the bitmap result and the bitmap configurationinclude a series of bits, each bit representing an event of a trustinsertion operation.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein theplurality of threats is detected by the security technology running on agateway of the DCF.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein theoverall data confidence score is also based on trust insertion metadatagenerated by one or more devices in the DCF other than a device thatdetected the threat.
 4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein thedata confidence score is an integer or a non-integer.
 5. The method asrecited in claim 1, further comprising adjusting the data confidencescore.
 6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data isgenerated and/or collected by an IoT device.
 7. The method as recited inclaim 1, wherein the trust insertion metadata is added to the TIMvector, and the data confidence score is added to the TIR vector, andthe overall data confidence score of the DCF is based on the TIR vectorand the Tim vector.
 8. A non-transitory storage medium having storedtherein instructions that are executable by one or more hardwareprocessors to perform operations for scoring a confidence score of adata confidence fabric (DCF), the operations comprising: monitoring anddetecting a plurality of threats to data flowing through the DCF for amonitoring period; assigning a data confidence score to data implicatedby the threat by comparing a bitmap result with a bitmap configuration;generating a trust insertion metadata (TIM) vector concerning types ofthe plurality of threats to the data and a trust insertion range (TIR)vector including a dynamic range of confidence scores related to theplurality of threats; receiving data generated by one device in onelayer of the plurality of layers; assigning a data confidence score tothe data based on the TIM vector, the TIR vector, and a trust inspectionconfiguration; creating a ledger entry based on the data, the dataconfidence score, and the TIM vector in a decentralized DCF framework;determining an overall data confidence score for the data confidencefabric based on ledger entries; repelling the plurality of threats tothe DCF, by a security technology, based on the data confidence score;and displaying a data threat portfolio view based on the overall dataconfidence score and the ledger entries to present identification of theplurality of threats to the DCF on a user's terminal, wherein the bitmapresult and the bitmap configuration include a series of bits, each bitrepresenting an event of a trust insertion operation.
 9. Thenon-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 8, wherein theplurality of threats is detected by the security technology running on agateway of the DCF.
 10. The non-transitory storage medium as recited inclaim 8, wherein the overall data confidence score is also based ontrust insertion metadata generated by one or more devices in the DCFother than a device that detected the threat.
 11. The non-transitorystorage medium as recited in claim 8, wherein the data confidence scoreis an integer or a non-integer.
 12. The non-transitory storage medium asrecited in claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise adjustingthe data confidence score.
 13. The non-transitory storage medium asrecited in claim 8, wherein the data is generated and/or collected by anIoT device.
 14. The non-transitory storage medium as recited in claim 8,wherein the trust insertion metadata is added to the TIM vector, and thedata confidence score is added to the TIR vector, and the overall dataconfidence score of the DCF is based on the TIR vector and the TIMvector.
 15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data threatportfolio view includes a heat map view based on a threat severity levelof each of a plurality of devices in the plurality of layers in the DCF.16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data threat portfolioview includes a data specific threat view based on threat environment onany specific piece of the data.
 17. The method as recited in claim 1,wherein the data threat portfolio view includes a historical threat viewbased on a trend of threats to the data over time.
 18. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the data threat portfolio view includes arisk assessment view based on areas of data ingest where threats areactive.
 19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the securitytechnology is an RSA Internet of Things (IoT) security monitortechnology.